Over the weekend, the Bishop’s men’s hockey club hosted U de Sherbrooke at the W.B. Scott Arena as the first of a two-game circuit to be finished on Tuesday, March 27 in Sherbrooke.

Typical of BU students, the fans who did turn out to support the men trickled into the arena slowly, after the game was already underway.
The Saturday evening game eventually garnered an impressive crowd, with many wearing bright purple and a few brandishing signs and blowing horns. However, unlike the celebratory first game which took place back in January, there was a noticeable absence of Pabst at this game, and consequently, the crowd was far less riotous.
Bishop’s forward Breandan Flynn was the first to score just over four minutes into the first period.  Nearing the end of the first, Eric Mia scored another goal, giving the Gaiters a 2-0 edge. The Gaiters held their lead throughout, with the Sherbrooke team constantly playing catch-up.
In the second period, the Vert et Or team briefly tied up the game before Chris Mathews scored our third goal; while falling from a trip he still managed to rifle it into the top corner. It was 3-2 after the second until Luc Armstrong scored a fourth for the Gaiters.
With only minutes remaining in the third period, Sherbrooke pulled their goalie as a last effort to regain control of the game. The Gaiters took advantage, Andrew Smith scoring on the open net with 1:20 left on the clock.
With only seconds left, Sherbrooke came back to score a fourth goal, leaving them with a one goal deficit. Bishop’s was able to hold onto their lead, Sherbrooke unable to muster a fifth to tie the score.
Several small fights broke out over the three 15-minute periods, hitting a tense climax by the final buzzer, which does not bode well for the follow-up game taking place at Universite de Sherbrooke this Tuesday.
Michael Coggins, one of the referees at Saturday’s game commented “it was a highly fast paced game where Bishop’s players capitalized on the power-play.” Of the goaltending, Coggins said it was “rock solid.”

Manning In

The Denver Broncos have certainly made headlines this off-season.

After declaring that Tim Tebow was hopefully “going to be the guy for a long, long time,” near the end of February, the Broncos executive vice-president of football operations, John Elway, turned around and signed Peyton Manning to a five year, $96 million contract last Tuesday, then traded away last year’s miracle man to the New York Jets on Wednesday.

Manning, who missed all of last season with a serious neck injury that reportedly left him with limited feeling in his throwing arm, is nevertheless touted as being one of the biggest free agent acquisitions in NFL history, and Elway is not afraid to say so.

“He’s a guy who raises all boats. He already makes [the Broncos] better, and he hasn’t even met them yet. Because of the type of person he is, his reputation, and what he’s done in this league. He’s going to have a tremendous effect on the Denver Broncos, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s chosen to play for us,” said Elway in the team’s press conference.

Ever since the Indianapolis Colts released the face of their franchise on March 7, Manning had visited a few potential suitors, which included the Miami Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers. Manning finally settled on the Broncos after spending the better part of his free agency period in the Broncos facilities.

Tebow out

The Broncos’ acquisition meant that Tebow was no longer going to be an integral part of the team’s offense. On Wednesday, the former first-round draft choice was traded to the New York Jets, in exchange for a fourth and sixth round pick in this year’s NFL entry draft. The Jets will also acquire a seventh round pick in the trade.

The Broncos were also approached by the Jacksonville Jaguars and reportedly offered Tebow the chance to choose where he would be traded, although Tebow has since denied these reports.

Whoever decided where he was heading, Tebow’s reception in New York has been as polarized as the player himself. Some fans hailed his arrival as the end of Mark Sanchez as the Jets starter—who was extremely inconsistent last season—while others scratched their heads and wondered what possessed the Jets to trade for a quarterback who has difficulty completing 50% of his passes.

Even some of his team-mates question the move. Cornerback Antonio Cromartie took to his Twitter account after the trade was confirmed saying, “Y bring Tebow in when we need to bring in more Weapons for @Mark_Sanchez let’s build the team around him. We already signed to 3 year ext.”

Even “Broadway” Joe Namath, the Hall of Fame quarterback, ripped the team for the trade: “I do not agree with this situation. I can’t agree with it. I just think it’s a publicity stunt. I really think it’s wrong. I can’t go for it,” said the former Jets quarterback in an interview with ESPN Radio. “I don’t think they know what they’re doing over there right now. They give Sanchez a new contract, they pat him on the back and then they bring in two more quarterbacks.”

As the school year comes to a close, so does the university football career of some of our fellow Gaiters. With only five years of eligibility for athletes, there are very few players that stick with their team until the end. It is memorable and inspiring to accomplish such a task, and is therefore an accomplishment that should be commemorated.

The Bishop’s Gaiters football program says farewell to three of its top players and leaders this year, who have been with the team since their first year of eligibility. Defensive assets Jermaine-Lewis Paris and Tyler Jutras, along with offensive and special teams stand-out Steven Turner.

The defensive back/ linebacker, Jermaine-Lewis Paris—otherwise known as J-Block amongst fellow team-mates—has been a stand-out for the team atmosphere with his outgoing and motivating personality. The social sciences student plays with all his heart and leaves it all on the field, practice or game. Whether it’s in season or off-season, he always has positive criticism to provide and motivating words for his team-mates. His upbeat personality wares off on fellow peers and brings everyone up a notch to perform at a higher level. His guidance and character will be missed on the field.
Tyler Jutras is also a social sciences student who contributed many hours on the field and in the gym the last five years.  His textbook style of play kept the team in many games and forced many tough decisions for opposing offensive co-ordinators. Jutras always worked to lead by example. On the field he was very talkative and informative to the players around him to keep them up to par. Off the field he leads by always being punctual and doing his job. His mental presence will be hugely missed when the defense steps on the field next season.
Steven ‘THE BURNER’ Turner made a return to the Gaiters line-up after a glimpse at the pros to help the offense out. His career at Bishop’s could include a highlight tape for kick returns alone after being recognized as one of the country’s best returners throughout his career with incredible speed and a tough opponent to take down. His athletic abilities will be missed along with his knowledge to pass on to the younger players.
Performing for five years at this level of play for one team is an accomplishment in and of itself. When considering the fact that football is known to be one of the world’s most physical and high speed sports, these men contributing five years to the Gaiters is undoubtedly an impressive feat, worthy of recognition. Congratulations to these three players who have displayed true school spirit and perseverance putting in so many hours of practice and play to help develop the program.

Over the weekend of March 16, Red Bull Crashed Ice traveled to Quebec City to conclude its international tour with the World Championship race.

Canada’s Kyle Croxall and Finland’s Arttu Pihlainen prepared for a too-familiar battle by the end of the ice cross downhill championship tour. Arttu brought the cup back to Europe in 2011, leaving Croxall anxious for the hometown win this year.

The Mississauga, Ontario native, Croxall grew up on the ice playing hockey until reaching the Junior A level, at which time he was introduced to Crashed Ice and never looked back.
After coming in second two years in a row, Croxall put in work to finally take his place at the top of the podium in Quebec City. By the last heat of the night, Croxall had racked up enough points to only need a second place win to take the overall title for Canada.
Following his first run on the Quebec track on March 16, Croxall noted on his Red Bull athlete’s blog, “You don’t want to be battling it out with anyone. You just want to get out in front and stay out front.” But, unfortunately for him, battling it out is exactly what he ended up having to do.
After a bad jump out of the gate, Croxall fell behind the pack as Pihlainen took a strong lead. Gaining momentum through the flat portion of the race with his unmatched leg speed, Croxall managed to reclaim a close third behind his brother Scott.
Just when it looked as though the cup would be returning to Finland with Pihlainen, Scott Croxall hit a tough jump, crashing into the wall and fell to the ice. Older brother, Kyle took advantage of the opportunity, streaking past Scott to secure a second place finish.
Pihlainen claimed the win but Croxall ultimately took home the cup, giving Canada its first World Championship title. Croxall finished the tournament with 3000 points, a close 40 points more than Pihlainen at 2960.
Following the race Croxall stated, “It was awesome to have such a big win in Canada. I was second overall the last two years so finally pulling off an overall win was amazing.”
Despite his fall late in the race, Scott Croxall still secured a spot on the podium beside his brother coming in third place with 2300 points overall. Having my brother beside me on the podium is always great, and fortunately, it happens a lot!”
Following the main event, Red Bull hosted a night of celebrations for the athletes and their guests at Espace Dalhousie downtown Quebec City.
Croxall noted, “Red Bull put on an awesome event, and the after party was a great idea to have at a private venue with friends.”
This year’s event displayed some unbelievable talent that will only make Croxall’s job more difficult for the years to come. New and old talent will be back again next year with more speed and more agility to compete for the 2013 title.

In the world of college sports, March is a very important month, as it brings the annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament, dubbed “March Madness.”

Millions of people make their bracket predictions, bookies around North America take in bets, and sports channels are saturated with pre-game shows, in-game commentary, and post-game analysis of the tournament as the Madness begins.

But what people often do not see is the numbers behind the tournament. There are probably a few bracket pools on campus, with prizes close to a hundred dollars. This is chump change in comparison to the $2.5 billion that the FBI estimates is gambled illegally in the U.S. during March Madness. (That’s right, billion. With a B.) Only an approximate $80 million is done legally through Nevada bookkeepers.

In addition to the $2.5 billion being gambled this year, it is estimated that companies throughout the U.S. will pay up to one billion in salaries to unproductive and distracted workers, who will spend an average of 90 minutes a day sneaking peeks at game highlights, box scores, and analysis.

But that is a fraction of the business surrounding the NCAA tournament. CBS and Turner Sports acquired the broadcasting rights for the tournament through the year 2024 in a $10 billion deal with the NCAA. Not bad for a non-profit organization.

The reason that CBS acquired the broadcast rights for the tournament is quite simple: the $738 million generated in advertisement revenues last year ranked second highest among sports postseason revenues, the first being the NFL’s $900 million revenues for its postseason.

Student as commodity?

Through all of this, the athletes do not earn a penny, which is understandable considering that they are students. As part of the contract that every player signs as they enter the NCAA, they are unable to make any money off of their collegiate career. What people do not often know is that this clause also includes the time after they have graduated. This includes any revenue generated by the NCAA through the use of any player’s likeness in ads and video games.

So what does the NCAA do with all that money? One thing that is certain: it does not devote itself to the academic success of the athletes. Indeed, the graduation rate for the major college sports in the U.S. is less than impressive. For example, the Baylor Bear men’s basketball team graduates less than 50% of its athletes. In 2010, only 29% of the team’s African-American students graduated.

It is understood that the NCAA uses a part of those revenues to support other national tournaments such as golf and volleyball, but would it not also be beneficial to allocate a part of those funds to assure the academic success of the athletes? Is it not the purpose of the NCAA to develop student-athletes? Considering that only a minute portion of collegiate athletes make it to the professional leagues, maybe it’s time that the NCAA think more about the students.

Tiger may not be back, but he is not completely gone either.

Woods, who has been searching for his game ever since his divorce and subsequent sex scandals, was two shots away from winning his first tournament in over two years at this year’s Honda Classic.

At the start of the final round, Woods sat in 18 position trailing by a nearly insurmountable nine shots from the leader, the young Northern Irishman, Rory McIlroy. Woods, in shades of his former self, roared back into contention with a two eagle, four birdie and twelve par Sunday performance.

Yet McIlroy’s lead was exactly that- insurmountable, and Woods finished tied for second place along with fellow American Tom Gillis.

After his impressive round, highlighted by an eagle on the final hole, Woods fielded questions from the media, and simply stated that he “hit the ball well and made a few putts.” Woods also said something that his fans have not heard in quite some time, “I had a great time today.”

If Woods is warming up (physically and mentally) for a comeback, he chose his time perfectly, with the first major of the season, the Masters, less than a month away.

McIlroy takes over #1 world ranking

While his win at the Honda Classic was somewhat overshadowed by Woods’ performance, Rory McIlroy nevertheless took an important step in his very young career: becoming the number one ranked player in the world.

In accomplishing this feat, McIlroy becomes the second youngest player to take the top spot in the world golf ranking, the youngest being none other than Woods.

“With being able to get to the top of the world rankings, it meant a lot to go out there and produce the golf I needed to do to get the job done,” said the young star after his victory. “I didn’t know I would be able to get to here so early.”

McIlroy played a very solid tournament, leading the pack with an 11 under par score headed into the final round, where he shot a one under 69.

With his takeover of the top spot in the sport, McIlroy is giving the fans and the media exactly what they want: a rivalry with Woods. McIlroy even seems to enjoy the notion, stating that “It’s great for golf, it creates a lot of interest, and I’d love to be able to go down the stretch like that with him there a lot more.”

McIlroy will reportedly be taking a three week break before the Masters in order to prepare for the major. But before heading to Augusta, the new world number one was on his way to New York right after his tournament in order to spend time with his girlfriend, tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, saying that “It might be a late one tonight

The biggest story so far in the NFL off-season has been the decision by the Indianapolis Colts to release franchise superstar quarterback Peyton Manning. Selected first overall in the 1998 draft, Manning has played every NFL game with a Colts jersey, and all with extremely impressive career stats. Unfortunately for Manning his 2011/12 season was spent on the sideline with an injury to his neck.
Manning’s streak of never missing a game was brought to a halt after he was declared not healthy enough to play. He underwent surgery to alleviate pain in his neck, along with arm weakness that he had been dealing with the previous couple of seasons. He was hoping to play the past season, but inevitably had to deal with an additional surgery, a serious cervical fusion procedure. He holds the franchise records for both passing yards and touchdowns. He was also voted top NFL player of the decade for the 2000’s by both Fox Sports and Sports Illustrated.
Manning was released by the Colts on March 7, 2012. Six teams were reportedly interested in signing Manning after his release: the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, and Seattle Seahawks, with New York Jets and Washington Redskins reportedly also being interested. Manning started off with a visit to Miami before heading off to Denver to meet with Broncos president John Elway. After meeting Denver, Manning went to Arizona to meet Ken Whisenhunt. Manning will meet with Miami next on his trip, with the meeting’s tentative date being this upcoming weekend.
Upon his release, Colts owner Jim Irsay announced that no Colt will ever wear the #18 jersey again, though it is not being officially retired at present time. At the press conference it was clear that releasing Manning was not a decision either parties wanted to do. The main reason for releasing him was simply economic-money. With his future as a player still unclear, the Colts did not want to pay his contract bonus worth millions of dollars. It was an unsafe bet considering his health status. Unfortunately for Peyton and Colts fans the world of business overweighed the personal relationship between Peyton and the franchise, and therefore the safest bet was made.
If one was to ask any fan of the NFL if they ever imagined seeing Peyton Manning in a jersey other than the blue and white with a horse shoe, the obvious answer would be no. He has been the franchise player for his entire career and shaped that team and organisation into a serious threat every time they step on to the playing field. The rest of the off-season and the talk of this spectacular player’s future should be quite exciting.

The men played two games on March 10, first facing off against Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi (UQAC) and then later took on College Francois-Xavier Garneau. James Marsland – with a feed from Keegan Filion – scored the only goal of the game, leading the BU squad to victory over Chicoutimi to start the day.

The team’s general manager and defender, Doug Jarvis, noted, “We finished the season off great. Everyone played with a ton of heart.”

Going in to the tournament, the team was riding the recent high of their undefeated Winterfest tournament on January 21 at Universite du Quebec a Rimouski (UQAR). Bishop’s got a win against Chicoutimi and a tie against Sainte Foy, leaving the team with an impressive five points in league play.

The team will be losing some major players from the roster for next year including Ross Horrelt, Pedro Goncalvez, Jamil Abiad, James Marsland, and Doug Jarvis. Despite the loss, Bishop’s is looking forward to improving their record next year.

Continuing as captain for next year’s season, Keegan Filion remains optimistic to pull out big wins in the fall, leading the team to their biggest year yet.

This past weekend, students gathered on snow-covered Optimist field on College Street to participate in this year’s winter Snow Bowl. With recent spring-like weather, the event was threatened to lack its most important ingredient: snow. But thanks to a massive snow fall over Thursday and Friday, the event went off without a hitch.

A total of five teams competed in the snow football tournament, including the Sesame Street G’s, The French Connection, 14A Little Forks, Team Elite, and Team Raw. Both Champlain and Bishop’s students made up the teams that participated in the event.

The tournament ended with a championship game between Team Elite and Team Raw, drawing an impressive crowd for the final matchup. Team Raw took the win to come first place in the tournament, with Team Elite at second, and The French Connection coming in at third. Although not making it to the top three, the Sesame Street G’s and 14A Little Forks displayed great sportsmanship throughout the day’s events.

Event organizer, Taryn McGregor noted, “All teams were super awesome and they all had a good time!”

Many spectators stopped by the field throughout the day to enjoy the sun and festivities on the field. Hotdogs and hot chocolate were generously being served all day, available by donation. All the profits made from the Snow Bowl event go to the Red Cross.

McGregor also recognized the help received in organizing the event: “A special thanks to members of Premed who sat at the SUB table for the two weeks prior and helped out at the concession table during the tournament.”

Also contributing to the event, Nigel Flynn, Denise Copping, Jennifer McDade, Heather McGregor, and Valerie Caron were all crucial to the day’s success.

An eager crowd was in attendance at last Saturday’s annual “Hockey Moms” fundraiser as Bishop’s University students helped fundraise for a good cause. Bishop’s graduate Shane Tyrell originally created the annual event four years ago.

This year’s fundraiser organizers, John Graham, James McArthur, Devin Maule, Hannah Graham, and Brittany Cameron promoted the event thoroughly, bringing out an enthusiastic crowd and raising $3050 total for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Teams were formed through a draft pick held at The Gait prior to the game, which was attended by members of the BU Hockey Club and the intramural hockey team “The Dusters”, which is primarily composed of the Men’s Lacrosse Team.

John Graham expressed his enthusiasm with the outcome of the event. “We received great feedback from the Bishop’s community, as well as, donations from numerous staff. The SRC, having aided in funding for the jerseys, was also happy to endorse this event, as they would like to become more involved in the future.”

The game was between “Team Dube” who sported the “Tribute to Hockey Moms” jerseys, and “Team Squire” who sported the BU Men’s Hockey Club jerseys. The close game ended 17 seconds into over-time as Justin Taylor scored the final goal, ending the game with a score of 6-5 for “Team Squire”.

The game provides the BU Men’s Hockey club with an opportunity to collaborate with individuals in the community in order to aid those suffering from breast cancer. The fundraiser, a major success, will continue as a Bishop’s tradition, with the hopes of gaining greater momentum each year.